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TPAB’s Top Ten: Shocking Anime Moments

The shock of seeing my readership go down from 1000 a day to just 90 or 100 a day is very demoralizing. I’m very sorry to you, dear readers, but it’s very hard to continue after how hard wordpress f*cked me in the back. A word of advice to anyone with a blog: do not upgrade to wordpress’ premium packages. They turn your “thepantlessanimeblogger.WORDPRESS.COM” into just “thepantlessanimeblogger.COM”, and it feels good to own your site. I was forced to cancel my packages though, because I’m currently studying to become a professional teacher. This requires going back to school full time, and I’m fine balancing both blogging and school. The problem is that wordpress killed my motivation. Look at this sh*t:

WordPress now owns the “.COM” domain that I was supposed to pay for. This domain is now stealing my views, because google searches point users to the dead domain. It’s like a zombie, and it’s very stupid. It’s also very frustrating and it’s demoralizing, because I built this site with my own hard work for four years. All of that effort seems ruined now, and I don’t know what to do. I can trust myself though, and I’ll keep stubbornly believing that hard work does pay off. If I do go back to owning a “.COM” site, then I’ll make sure it’s not from wordpress.

Anyways, forgive the rant. Since I’m so behind on my review schedules, I decided to just do something lazy: a top ten list. Any idiot can do a top ten list, and I’ll be one of those idiots today. Today, I’ll talk about my top ten shocking anime moments. These moments came out of nowhere, and it really shocked me. Of course, being TPAB, you can really see some twists from a mile away. After watching and reviewing three hundred plus shows, some shocking moments just doesn’t really do anything for me. Some deaths are predictable, some sad moments are bland and some surprising twists just don’t really hit the spot for me. In my top ten, these moments really just changed the entire perception of the show for me. They are shocking in a way, because they help change to color of the show or certain characters. It’s also something the show doesn’t really put heavy foreshadowing, so the moment really slaps you in the face when it happens.

Again, this is my top ten lists and it’s very barren when it comes to popular mainstream Shounen anime. The main reason is because I don’t really watch long running shows, and I prefer my anime in 12-25 bursts. I like to marathon my sh*t, so I hope you understand. I’m also a big story slut, so some of these moments might not seem much to other people. I respect your opinion, so please respect mine even though we both know Mayoiga is a pile of sh*t. There we go, quote that, assh*le.

Anyways, on to the list

10. Zero Requiem – Code Geass

This was just set up beautifully, and the execution is just absolute perfection. After the rebels won back the country, Lelouch turned full douche and he made sure everyone sees him as this tyrannical ruler. When he reached absolute super villian level of notoriousness, Zero comes out and stands fact to face with Lelouch. Zero was recently played by Lelouch, because he wanted his identity a secret when he led the rebels to fight the enemy. This time, it was lifelong friend and rival Suzaku that donned the Zero mask. He charged at Lelouch, and Suzaku killed him. Zero is now the true face of change for the nation, and this was actually Lelouch’s plan from the very start.

The moment just felt very wonderful to me. In terms of an original screenplay just nailing its intended goal and going beyond it, this anime stamped it with the Zero Requiem plan. If you’re unsure of Code Geass’ amazing writing though, then you should read up on the massive influence the show had. After all, the cart driver’s identity is still a fun topic to discuss among anime enthusiasts.

9. Nice Boat – School Days

This anime is just boring and bland. I do love the first episode, because it setup the love triangle pretty early. Sekai made her feelings known after Makoto and Kotonoha was soon to become an item. It got my hopes up, but the show is a true VN anime. It is boring, the lack of the sexual energy of the VN makes it an unpleasant experience and the characters are just one-dimensional garbage. I fell asleep watching the rest of the show, but it did felt good reaching the ending. Makoto is killed by Sekai, and then Sekai is massacred by Kotonoha. The sadistic girl then decapitated Makoto and she sailed away in a nice boat cradling his severed head.

I’ll give points for School Days. It’s still a talked about anime because of two things. I believe it was the first VN anime to feature a gory bad ending. Most anime adaptations don’t really talk about the alternate endings of the original source. They really just like to focus on one, or they pull an ending out of their ass. School Days gave us something new and unique, and this twist really stands the test of time. Secondly, the nice boat incident comes from the anime and the beheading incident that happen when the show was airing. Some stupid controversy forced the anime to be replaced by a boat show or something. It’s a funny coincidence. I’m talking about the nice boat, not the parallel beheadings.

8. The town of lava – Kino’s Journey

I’ll be giving this anime a score of ten, if I review it. I’m in no hurry though.

If you’ve seen the show, then you know how smart it handles its various twists. A lot of the episodes tackle the irony of life and such. For example, two bitter kingdoms made peace after such a bloody history between them. They celebrate this peace by holding a game every year where small villages are massacred. The kingdom with the most kills is declared the winner. Isn’t that fun? That story really made my jaw drop, because it’s just ripe with messages waiting for me to unpack and dissect.

The moment that truly stands out to me though, is the last episode. Kino visited a town regarded as a really bad place. The people there are unwelcoming, and it garnered a reputation as a town travellers like to avoid. When Kino enters the town, he is met with absolute welcome. He was a prized visitor for the tow, and he was taught of the various folklore and practices of the little place. He even befriended a little girl that reminds him of himself, and it got to a point where he eventually convinced himself to stay there forever. The villagers urged him to go though, and he eventually left. He got a far distance, and he then setup camp for the night. He was awakened by a volcano erupting, and the lava is spew came straight to the village Kino grew to love. He discovers that the villagers knew the volcano is coming, but they refused to leave. They wanted to be known as a kind town though, so they wanted Kino to pass on their legacy.

This moment stands out, because there were a lot of happy thing that suddenly becomes sad. Kino witnessed a wedding, and the little girl’s parents even asked their daughter if she wants to go with Kino. All of this is actually beautiful foreshadowing to a moment that absolutely no one saw coming. It’s amazing.

7. Humans, vampires, monsters – Shiki

There were a lot of great moments in Shiki, but the one that really changed everything for me was a small scene where the villagers were killing the sleeping vampires. Covered in blood, they were happily talking to one another and they even ate rice balls with their hands soaked in red. This moment disturbed me. Why? It’s because the humans are now the vampires in this scenario. They are now the ones killing while the vampires are trying to survive. This complete change of roles really made Shiki an amazing anime, but it also delivered a great point. Vampires are monsters for killing humans for their own selfish needs. What do you say to the humans that are killing defenseless vampires while happily eating rice balls though? Isn’t that a monstrous thing to do as well? Pretty selfish, too.

The vampires started it though, right? They killed people and populated the town with blood sucking nightmares. In the vampires’ perspective though, this was just to ensure their survival. After changing roles though, the humans are now killing people and it was for their survival as well. It’s pretty damn ingenious, right?

6. Rail tracer – Baccano

The identity of the rail tracer is one of the smartly executed subplots in Baccano. It starts with the story of a monster in a train, and it transforms into a killer that doesn’t know the term “overkill”. Rail tracer is revealed when a conductor points the gun at his fellow conductor. In the flow of the story, the next scene in the room involves two dead people. I love how one has an unidentifiable face while the other is clearly seen shot between the eyes. Naturally, the conductors are dead except that’s not what happens. It turns out that the conductor staring down the barrel of the gun is actually rail tracer, and he revealed it in such a cool fashion. Afterwards, the guy just decided to shake things up in the train including torturing a kid and killing a guy by shoving his face in the ground while the train moves at top speed. This is why Baccano got a perfect score from me.

5. The headless magical girl – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

I’ve talked about this countless times now, but it’s still something that just sticks with me. I can’t shake it off. The anime started out as a very saccharine show full of girly things and other sh*t you’d expect in a magical show. It even has a cute opening featuring the main character reminiscent of Cardcaptor Sakura or Sailormoon. The tone of the anime changed after Mami, the strongest magical girl, was killed by having her eaten devoured by a monster. It happened fast, and you just couldn’t believe it. This was never something the anime really intended on doing judging by the saccharine tone of the story. Things changed drastically after this, and a lot of little girls soon followed Mami into the miserable faith awaiting them. This anime is actually a depressing show about hopelessness and defeat. Holy sh*t, and it all started because Mami couldn’t keep her head.

4. Otonashi’s death – Angel Beats

I’m sure there’s a Clannad moment that easily trumps this one, but I didn’t really follow the show. I only saw the first season of Clannad, and it was good. Anyways, Otonashi’s flashback is just gawd damn depressing. Caught in a train accident, Otonashi is one of the survivors. He helped the other survivors collect themselves and stay calm until rescue comes. The last moments of his death involves everyone lying on the floor exhausted and ready to die. With his last strength, I think he decided to donate his body parts. After that, the guy died. The extremely sad part is that the rescue team is literally seconds into saving everyone and one of the other survivors were even screaming at him telling him to hold on.

This moment just really caught me off guard. I think Yui’s story is sadder, but Otonashi’s death was just shocking to me. It changed the color of the show for me. Angel Beats felt like a comedy show up until Yui’s story, but it really only felt like a drama when Otonashi’s death was revealed.

3. Roberta goes apesh*t – Black Lagoon

So a maid walks into a bar…..and then she massacred everyone. There’s a joke there, or maybe I forgot to put it in. Either way, Roberta’s rampage in Black Lagoon is just divine. You kinda knew it was coming the moment a mild mannered maid walks up to the counter. You know she isn’t an ordinary woman, but Roberta takes things too far. After being disrespected by the people inside the bar, she decided to rain bullets on them. Roberta is so unstoppable that she got everyone on town chasing after her. Despite the large army on her tail though, Roberta proves to be a really unbeatable force. The amount of bullets and explosions and carnage Roberta unleashed definitely stuck with me. It’s a really shocking, but also enjoyable, moment for me.

2. They were right, and they were wrong – Shin Sekai Yori

This anime is about a world populated by psychics, or something like that. The show follows a girl, named Saki, basically living in this unique society wherein rules are heavily in place, and villagers are severely punished for it. One of the rules of she must follow involves those rat people that the society considers garbage. I believe there is also another one about keeping a healthy mind or else you’ll be taken out back and never be seen again. The rules sounds absurd for a little girl, and the villagers never really explain why these rules are enforced. They just are, and you just keep your head down and follow them. When she grew up though, she broke one of those rules. Helping two friends escape the clutches of the society for breaking the rules, Saki seek the help of the rat people. Its leader, Squealer, agreed and the damn rat really came through. Things turned a bit sour from there when Saki is now is a member of the council of those psychics, and she understood the implications of the rules.

First of all, Squealer obtained some ancient knowledge that convinced him he is human. After being suppressed for so long by the psychics, this calculating rat is now ready to fight back. His weapon? A rouge psychic this society calls an Ogre. After maturing enough, Saki realized that her friends are often never seen again because they have the dangerous potential to be an Ogre. These creatures are psychics that cannot control themselves anymore, and they just want to kill. People popped like balloons thanks to the power of the Ogre, and this is where the shocking moment comes in. The story is told in Saki’s perspective, so the rules feel a bit unfair and annoying. After seeing the rat people revolt and an Ogre wreak havoc, these rules now make perfect sense. The oppressive and scary nature Saki experience growing up was trying to prevent something like this.

The moment that made my jaw drop though is Squealer’s final words. “We are human”, he declares as he faces a council of psychics. The rat is very much convinced of this fact, and it turns out he was f*cking right. The rat people’s DNA is the same as those of the psychic people. The anime ends with Saki realizing that psychic people eventually ruled the world, and they wanted to make sure the non-psychic people are beneath them. These bastards fused the non-psychic people with rats and heavily deformed them. Saki is now witness to just how f*cked up this society is, but her experiences can only make her nod at the decisions of the people that preceded her.

1. I’m going to heal you – Oreshura

This is a bit weird for a number one pick, but this is a lazy post so who cares. Oreshura, or Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru or My Girlfriend and Childhood friend fights too much, is a light novel anime.

I hate LN anime, and it’s mainly because they’re the most predictable kind of show there is. Its wish fulfillment galore and it constantly recycles concepts after concepts. This anime is no different. It’s a harem anime about a dude and a handful of pretty girls. I’ll admit though, this anime has a soft spot for me. In the realms of LN anime, this one is well written. It’s about a guy blackmailed to be a hot girl’s boyfriend, but the anime clearly established early on that the guy has a childhood friend that is very much close to her. These two elements naturally collide, but the childhood friend would often take a step back because she wants the guy to be happy. It’s worth mentioning though that the hot girl is only using the dude because she is tired of people hitting on her. She wants the spotlight off her, and he was the available choice. Her method of blackmail involves a notebook full of his eight grade syndrome tirade. He doesn’t want people to know about that, because he has an image of being a smart student aiming to be a doctor. In fact, he even reads medical book from time to time just to prepare.

Towards the end of the anime though, the hot girl eventually falls for the guy (ofcourse) but she feels a bit disheartened knowing she is the only person in his harem that isn’t a childhood friend. Surprisingly, two more girls appear and they’re childhood friends of his as well. The hot girl eventually finds the last page of the guy’s eight grade syndrome simply has the words “I’m going to heal you”, and it’s actually the guy’s declaration of becoming a doctor for the sake of his original childhood friend. The girl suffered an injury that prevents her from playing her favorite sports or something, and the guy realized it was a devastating thing for his beloved friend. He decided to change just for her sake, and that was just f*cking perfection.

The execution is just amazing, and the story itself is just really promising. It’s a light novel I personally read, because it’s not trying to be a copycat concept. It has a unique story to tell, even if it is wish fulfillment driven and fanservice~y. This moment is just shocking for all the rights reason.

And that’s that.

I know there are tons more that I personally enjoy, but this is a lazy post so it only has 2/3s of my effort put behind it. Seriously, I’m very demotivated to do anything at the moment, but we’ll see soon enough.

Huh, that’s weird. Once you cancel your package, won’t wordpress redirect links back to the “wordpress.com” site? I actually considered upgrading for mine at some point, but glad I didn’t. Not sure if this is related, but I can’t view a lot of pictures in this post, lol.

Just going to comment on #10 by saying that Code Geass’s ending is truly perfect. Lelouch’s ultimate plan of making himself the blatant villain, only to sacrifice himself by having Suzaku killed him donning on the Zero mask, witnessed by the entire nation; it’s just so perfect. But in a way, when you think what Lelouch have done throughout the entire series that lead up to the ending, it just seems natural, like what he did in the ending is only just the next (and final) part of his gigantic plan.

they actually help redirect links when you upgrade, but they don’t when you cancel. I was honestly surprised as well, because it’s kinda a dick move, but I guess it’s something to frazzle me and pressure me to upgrade again. It’s a business tactic, but I’m not biting. If I ever upgrade, I’ll do it elsewhere.
And the pic problem must be related to the domain issues. i just hope it’s not permanent, or else I’ll delete this site and move to Blogger or something.

And Zero Requiem is awesome!!! True, it is a Lelouch thing to do, but I seriously did not expect it. From the moment he acted douchey, I knew there was a plan but I didn’t expect it to be so perfect.

My most shocking anime moment is the ending of “The End of Evangelion” probably the most beautiful vision of the end of the world that I’ve seen.

I also like the ending of steins gate, especially the scene in ep 23 when Okabe realizes he can save kurisu after watching his future self’s video message. I like it when a protagonist is pushed to his utmost dire situation and then he suddenly figures out how to solve it all and save the day, the opposite is good too, as in Eva.

ahhhh I was wondering what happened! when I’d see a post from you while browsing my tumblr dash, I’d usually go right to opening a new tab and bringing up your site directly so I could first catch up on any earlier reviews I’d missed. I’d start with a quick typing of “th” and the browser would fill in the rest. For a while I thought the site was down, but then I realized that the page link from the tumblr posts seemed to work, and that it was the regular wordpress url that was the one to use again. I’m glad you’re still here!